Traffic on minds of voters in San Juan Capistrano

Nov. 6, 2012

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Kaitlyn Forster, 19, leaves the polls with a smile after voting for the first time Tuesday in San Juan Capistrano. She said she was most excited about voting for president. Forster is studying business and engineering at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Mark Foat walks into the polling place at San Juan Mobile Estates in San Juan Capistrano on Tuesday morning. Apart from voting for president, Foat said a big priority for him is Proposition 32, which, among other things, would ban corporate and union contributions to state and local candidates and ban automatic deductions by corporations, unions and governments of employees' wages to be used for politics. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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The polling place at San Juan Mobile Estates in San Juan Capistrano had a steady flow of voters by 9 a.m. Tuesday. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Adam Aldinger, 31, talks on the phone with his sister to discuss the state ballot propositions before going to the polls Tuesday morning in San Juan Capistrano. "We're radically different," Aldinger said. "But I like to know what she thinks." DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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San Juan Capistrano voters wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling place in the San Juan Mobile Estates clubhouse. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Kaitlyn Forster, 19, proudly shows her "I voted" sticker Tuesday after voting for the first time. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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A voter collects his voting information beneath an American flag and a map of the United States after casting his ballot Tuesday at the San Juan Mobile Estates clubhouse. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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The arrow points the way for voters heading to the polling place at San Juan Mobile Estates. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

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Election information in several languages is laid out for those who who need it at the San Juan Mobile Estates polling place in San Juan Capistrano. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

Kaitlyn Forster, 19, leaves the polls with a smile after voting for the first time Tuesday in San Juan Capistrano. She said she was most excited about voting for president. Forster is studying business and engineering at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. DAVID BRO, FOR THE REGISTER

San Juan Capistrano voters heading to the polls Tuesday morning seemed most concerned about the traffic they face every day, and they had mixed feelings about how city leaders have handled it.

The City Council "is doing OK," said Bob Demario, a 35-year resident who turned out at the San Juan Mobile Estates polling place about 8 a.m. "They're having a lot of difficulties with traffic though."

Maggie, a resident who did not want her last name used, said the council has not done a good job preparing residents for the traffic nightmare she believes will result from construction during the California Department of Transportation's coming renovation of the I-5/Ortega Highway interchange.

"It's gonna be pretty bad," she said.

Resident Sandra Estep said traffic in the city is horrible but can't be addressed now because it should have been handled much earlier.

"You've got systems that were put in years ago," Estep said. "I don't think a change on the City Council will make any difference. I think they've tried to address it the best they can."

Even after major traffic projects such as the I-5/Ortega interchange are completed, there still will be problems, Demario said. "It doesn't really matter who is in there," he said of the council.

Estep did not say whom she voted for but said she doesn't see eye to eye with Byrnes and McCarthy about the city's groundwater recovery plant, which the two candidates say has cost the city too much money and results in unnecessarily high water rates.

The current council, including Allevato, has invested millions of dollars in the plant, which the city says provides about 70 percent of the local water supply. Byrnes and McCarthy say importing water from the Metropolitan Water District would be much cheaper.

Estep said investing in the plant will have long-term benefits for the city. "Water is going to be more expensive," she said. "We're paying for our future."

Another resident, Pat, who did not want her last name published, said the council needs to help bring more businesses to San Juan. She was critical of people she said are pushing against allowing bigger businesses. "It's stopping any growth," she said.

Demario said he hopes the council will do more after the election to address illegal immigration. "I think all the councils are more worried about their job than doing what needs to be done," he said.

He said the city should have adopted a San Juan Capistrano Right to Work Act that Councilman Derek Reeve proposed last year. It would have prohibited employers in the city from hiring people who are in the country illegally and would allow the city to act on violations. However, Reeve withdrew the idea because of state and federal actions going on at the time.

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